Monday, May 25, 2009

Yet more evidence...

Eighteen "phantom" MEPs will be elected on full pay and perks next month despite not being able to start work for up to two years due to Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

The extra candidates will be chosen in the European Union elections on June 4 despite the agreement, which increases the number of MEPs from 736 to 754, remaining unsigned.

Amid confusion over when and how they will take up their seats, the European Parliament has decided to give the MEPs only "observer" status from next year.

The deal will mean they can draw full salaries and allowances at an annual cost of over £6 million without any legislative duties to carry out.

The 18 MEPs, from 12 EU countries, including Britain's West Midlands region, will be paid more than £76,000 a year, with staff and office allowances worth £210,000.

They will also be entitled to tax-free allowances of £255 for every day of their limbo existence in Brussels and can claim back business class travel.

Fucking hellski. I mean, it's bad enough that they are getting all of the salaries, perks and expenses—and, of course, the EU wouldn't let us see the report on the MEPs' excesses, remember—but there is a far more sinister aspect of this too, as Trixy points out. [Emphasis mine.]

Let's just set aside, for the moment, the fact that we will be having an additional 18 MEPs elected who won't be doing any fucking work but will be living off the tax payer: they are so determined and confident that they can get this treaty through that they're even altering the legal system to accommodate it.

So, despite the fact that the Lisbon Treaty (or EU Constitution, whatever you want to call it) was voted down by the people of Ireland, France and the Netherlands, the powers that be in the EU are starting to enact it into law anyway.

As a matter of fact, vast swathes of the Treaty have already been enacted and many of the bodies supposedly formed by the Treaty's adoption have been up and running for a number of years.

Their contempt for us—the peoples of Europe—is total: these fuckers have a plan and they are going to enact it whether we, the people, like it or not.

It is events like this that act as salient reminders that the reform of Westminster is a moot point: since our MPs do not control the majority of legislation that passes through the House, it little matters how they act.

And since not one of the three main parties is planning to remove us from this insanity, there seems to be nothing that we can do to stop the irresistible rise of this illiberal, totalitarian, supranational European Union.

But, as many people have concluded, the expenses row and, especially, the resignation of Michael Martin, are simply sideshows: the real issue is the powerlessness of Parliament. Some MPs and their accolytes are now using this as an excuse: it is not.

After all, who was it who ceded the power to the EU in the first place? The politicians.

Who is it that has failed to hold the Executive to account or to curb its power? The politicians.

Oh, but that's not fair, is it? Many of these politicians were not in Parliament when these changes were enacted. No, that's true: they were not.

But they still have the power to change things. If they want their power back from the EU, for instance, they need only repeal the European Communities Act 1972 (time is running out on this though: once the Lisbon Treaty is signed, this relatively simple option will no longer exist). Sure, there would be a lot of law to unpick afterwards, and a lot of negotiating to do with the rest of the EU countries—but isn't that kind of thing precisely what we pay the fuckers to do?

But not one of these bastards has proposed that.

In fact, have you seen one single proposal from any of these cunts that would return power to Westminster? No, nor have I....

As long as the MPs were able to fill their capacious fucking boots, they were happy to turn a blind eye to the destruction of Parliament's power and the growth of unaccountable bodies. In fact, it made life far, far easier for them: they had all of the perks, but none of the responsibilities (whilst simultaneously deeming it suitable to chastise us for following their lead).

We are all fucked, and the MPs have brought us to this place of fuckage. And, as EUReferendum continues to point out, these bastards continue to wank on about "big changes" being needed when, in fact, they are actually proposing the least change that they think they can get away with.

These cunts continue to play us for fools—and it looks like they'll get away with it.

Whatever pay we (or more likely, they) decide to give to MPs once this is whitewashed/sorted out, they should only receive 25% of it until they repatriate all the law-making powers and all the enforcement powers that MPs have given to the EU for free.

Because only when they can do 100% of the job should they be paid for 100% of the job.

If you want to stop the Lisbon Treaty Brown must be forced to go before October. He will try to hang on whatever happens before then and Dave is hoping the treaty is passed before the Tories have to do anything about it.

So in reality Hitler and his boys won WWII. This EU rolling ahead is what he envisaged. It is rolling on regardless of the peoples' of Europe and what they think or who they elect, just as he would have wished and expected.

Now what happens if the Irish vote "no" yet again? They are as bloody minded as we are. What if Cameroon gets in and gives us a referendum in advance of ratification? He might. I know it's an immense long shot. If he did and we, a large country, rejected this overweening federalism, what then? Will these bastards tear down these political structures? No, of course not. They aren't interested in democracy. We must leave the EU. The political map after next week will be most interesting.

The biggest shot that could be sent to the ruling elite regarding this whole mess would be a vote for the party that they fear the most.Forget playing the long game for now, we are in a very tight spot now and we need to make a very radical move to even begin to turn this around.The only oppertunity that is immediately to hand is the elections on june 4th. It is our only option to state clearly our deep objections in the shortist timeframe.

So, despite the fact that the Lisbon Treaty (or EU Constitution, whatever you want to call it) was voted down by the people of Ireland, France and the Netherlands, the powers that be in the EU are starting to enact it into law anyway.

I'd rather have Lisbon enacted then to be thrown out later using the fact that a Parliament cannot bind its successors than to have that bunch of Spodes in power who, I predict, will cock up any attempt at withdrawal, so making it even more difficult for whoever has to come along later and clear up the mess.

Here is what EU is good for and why it is important for EU membership:

"MEPs have been quietly clocking up hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in expenses without so much as showing a rece

"On top of a basic salary of £83,282 a year (representing a huge pay rise for UK MEPs from June onwards), £41,573 in "transition payments" when they leave office, and pension rights of up to £30,000 for a single five-year term, MEPs can claim an enormous £363,000 a year in expenses – not a penny of which requires a receipt

"MEPs can spend their allowances on holidays, duck ponds, moats, mortgages or whatever takes their fancy, safe in the knowledge that neither the dreaded media nor taxpayers will ever find out

"MEPs voted to keep secret revealed that one MEP had paid his entire staff allowance — £183,776 a year — to a suspected relative

"MEPs sign in early in the morning to claim their £259 daily allowance, only to dash straight off for a long weekend

"British MEPs voted against key proposals to make the expenses system more transparent, including requirements to produce receipts to back up travel expenses

"Gordon Brown announced over the weekend that he would force Labour MEPs to publish receipts for all their expenses in future ... but it still only applies to office expenses, which account for only €50,000 of the €400,000 total available expenses pot